Africa has lost unimaginable sum of resources, life and its historical heritages due to the centuries of aggression during colonization and slave trade. Because of this the continent is believed to be still lingering in a vicious cycles of economic, political and social problems. Its people have also suffered, and are still suffering from the impacts of the mistreatment during the two historical incidents.
AU has held as its motto of the year Justice for Africans and African descents through reparation. Indigenous spiritual leaders of Africa are believed to play a big role in pursuing reparative justice for the centuries of aggression committed against the people of Africa and African descents.
Today’s Herald Guest is Imbonie UzwiLezwe Radebe (Dr) who is an indigenous spiritual leader from the Republic of South Africa. During his brief conversation with The Ethiopian Herald, he has explained about the impacts of colonization and slave trade on Africa in general and the indigenous spiritualism in particular as well as its consequent effects against the economic and political issues of the continent at present. Enjoy reading!
Could you tell me about the possible role of Africa’s indigenous spirituality in the overall life of the people as well as in ensuring just for the past grievances?
Indigenous spiritual leaders are called to serve the people, they share the Pains of the communities. They lead societies. They are very close to the societies. Therefore, their role is very important because anything that affects societies is deeply felt by these leaders.
Anything that affects societies, it affects these leaders because they are leaders who are leading. Therefore, that is very important. Then working together with government and other organizations in order to fast track this issue because any injustice has to be corrected. Some people missed the point because when we come to spiritual religious leaders they want to quote words of love, words of forgiveness. Sometimes I think they are quoted out of context. Everything in life is within a specific context. When you quote, something that is out of context, it has nothing to do with it. Repatriation is not about hatred, it is not about forgiveness. Even if it is forgiveness we are not a fix. You should look at Africans we go in a broader scale. We are still backwards. We are not in a par with the world. If we were in a par with the world in terms of economy and education I think by now things would have been fine.
Let us look at economy. Why are we behind in the economic matters? It is because the global system and the Western World are the ones who were able to be ahead of us because of the injustice of the past, taking our minerals, like trade that has happened for years. It’s not for a short time. It happened for many years and, in order for us to fast track today, they need to come and board in assistance for us because whatever that was taken from Africa it is developed elsewhere. So their development was not purely on their own. It was because of the injustices and looting of Africa. Therefore, how many years is going to take us to be on par with them. Therefore, they need to assist us. There is clear distinction that the past is not yet over and we need to fast track the past. Life goes on. We are the new generation; everything is moving ahead; but we are still behind. I want to bring in this point of global leadership as well. If you look at who leads in the world, it is the western countries; in terms of decision-making they took that position because of the colonization in the past. We Africans are followers in the global system. If we are followers in the global system because of the past that the Western worlds were able to uplift themselves and place them in that position of leadership, then what else has made us to be where we are? Therefore, we need to correct the injustices of the past in all aspects in order for us to grow in position and also to be sitting on the same table of Global Leadership. Not followers. We have to sit in the same table.
Do you think religious organizations in Africa are strong enough to pursue the quest for reparation? What is the challenge?
There are many problems but for me, the biggest problem that Africa has now is unity. Does it have strong religious and spiritual institutions? Yes, it does! They can have a united voice that can reach all over the world. The problem that we have within the religious spaces spiritual spaces, including political spaces within African continent is Unity. We do not have unity. If all Africans and all sectors of spaces and all institutions and organization can unite for one common goal, and that goal being Africa that is when Africa will have a strong voice; but now we are not United. Others are talking the African language. Other Africans are not talking The African language. We are speaking another language. So my issue is that we do have strong institutions then what we are lacking is Unity. Example we are speaking English Now. It is the common language. No problem. Why does Africa have not a common language that we as Africans can communicate and understand each other? That is telling you that we have a big problem amongst us. Therefore, sometimes, when we want to go to the bigger table of global organizations, we fail simply because we are divided. A house that is divided can never stand. If we can unite and all our institutions unite putting religion, spirituality Dogma aside We put our Dogma aside in our own space we become one, common purpose.
So we have to unite the countries, the governments that you register suggesting for us?
Spiritual institutions should put differences aside and unite only for common purposes. That is our Africanness. Ourselves and politicians should be like the differences that we can make. Africa is a very rich continent in terms of spirituality culture, minerals, Minerals that we were looted. It is the richest but the poorest. And does that make sense? It is the richest, but it’s the poorest. Now in this era the problem is Unity.
The political leaders of the continent like the African Union, The United Nations economic commission for Africa, are thinking about Unity. Everyone is working on just creating a continent, just integration region by region. How do you think indigenous spiritual leaders can help in realizing this?
I think African Union can play very significant role. The whole idea of the unity itself came from leaders who had this vision of African United. The question now in this generation is ‘are we continuing their Vision or not?’ I think the AU has to play a significant role; but in any other institution or organization such as the AU you need the right people who are going to have the right tools to see Africa United. That is what they should look at even more on the right people who will be advising on these commonalities. You cannot just unite. We are all different. However, commonalities set a goal for us. If we both have one commonality here, that is our goal. Our differences will be aside. So we need leaders who are going to then set goals and through those commonalities we set goals. Like the leaders of the AU they had commonalities, and their commonality was unity. Because of that they became the AU. We should take over now and lead the AU to put us together and move Africa. Africa is a safe story because the solution is not hard. Let us be honest. There are complex letters, but not the matter of unity. Not the matter of Africa coming together. That is not a complex issue because we are Africans. But the question is, why is it difficult? That is a question for everybody to answer?
And the other thing I would like to raise is just now when you call me happy guys, in terms of we call it culture spirituality million. Now, our context is internal so how the role of the spiritual leaders indigenous people recognized in ensuring peace …?
We are. Then spirituality allows us to connect on a higher level, a spiritual level that a physical level and that is why spirituality transcends religion. So, I think our indigenous spirituality are not given enough respect and enough chance. I think Africans, if we really would acknowledge our spiritual Heritage; we are going to start connecting now no more on a spiritual level than a physical level. You are well aware that there are tribal war in Africa, there’s xenophobia in Africa. All of that is not being properly addressed. Because if you look it seems everybody is confused. We have to take the truth of the matter while we are facing tribalism, tribes are fighting. We are facing xenophobia, hating each other. Let us be honest, we are wasting our time to fix anything else and why people are running away from this because, they have no solution. Because if I practice my spirituality and you practice your spirituality in your own way we connect at spiritual level there is no tribalism. There is no xenophobia. We are now becoming one because we connect at spiritual level. So indigenous spirituality can play a vital role in solving problems. That is how our ancestors solved problems.
Does it mean whatever your religion spirituality can solve problems?
Yes, because it transcends religion. Religions can go out of their dogmas beliefs, which sometimes creates Division and hatred and then they must all come and connect on a spiritual level. Politics is an ideology. I always say politics and religion are brothers and sisters but once politicians come out of the ideologies and say okay let us put this aside the common goal now is Africa.
So is there anything that is started to enable Africans connect spiritually?
In about 2017 I got a vision that the restoration of our indigenous are coming. So if you are still looking at these past years there’s a lot of Consciousness, not only in Africa, even the black Americans in America, the Caribbean’s. So, there’s a lot being done now to revive it. It can never be completely lost because it is not an ideology. It is who we are. It is something that lives in all of us. We are all spirit being. Some people do not know how to go about it. So it’s not completely lost and now it’s been revived.
How is the acceptance of the people?
Some people are rejecting because of colonization. The mind is so damaged that they lost their identity. Africans did not know who they were. And because the mind was being damaged, some are rejecting their own essence. But there is just a lot of revival. If you look around yourself, the internet, Africans are raising the right questions and those questions are “who were we before colonization took place?” And those are the right questions and the answers are coming that we were this kind of people and above all, we were spiritual people. We went to mountain in the past and the rain came down. Every nation will have its own stories, South Africa, Kenya, how we communicated with our spirit being nature, Etc, and so forth. So there’s a great revival that is out there. The numbers are rising, many Africans are accepting our indigenous ways.
In some religious sectors, as well, are opening up to say no, but this is true. This is who we are. And instead of rejecting and pressing, let’s work together, because they also understand that it’s true that the spirituality transcends.
These days, the questions in Africa are economic development and education … etc. So how do indigenous spiritual assets respond or help us respond to this?
African indigenous spirituality tries to inform every facet of life. There is cosmology. African spirituality is the African view of life. Sometimes people limited to the practice of prayer. We look at the stars in the African context. There is mathematics. There are spiritual sums because we had our way of conducting mathematics. For example, you are asking education. African children today are not so good in mathematics, which is very strange. But it’s been because of how it has been taught? It’s taught in the western way. However, we had our own way as African people how we approach mathematics. And when our kids could be taught that way they can excel in mathematics. So African indigenous spirituality faced all facets of Life, the education system, we had our own ways of education system. In the ancient khemet Europeans came and learned from our systems; that is not told today a lot. And even to those who speak the truth it is the basis of our spirituality. And that’s our experience, our spirituality Confirmed civilization because the first humans did not learn to do things; but things were revealed to them. Your first medical doctors did not go to school for seven years, then how to operate, they slept at night, and they dreamed. The spirit being showed them how to do things. And then sometimes we lose that. We have to reform our education systems. In the past things were revealed to us. And when we talk revelation, you are directly speaking about African indigenous spirituality: The relationship between the living and the spiritual, our creator. So all those laws with our own traditional laws that were informed by our Kings with the rulers of the land and we had our own justice system. Now we have laws; the English law is common law from the English. You have the Dutch law from the Dutch. It was mostly international laws. They are not from us. We had our own systems in our home, so we, as Africans left everything else and adopted everything else. If you lose all the systems, and adopt all the systems, they are going to confuse you. It is not yours. We are going to get stuck. You do not know these things. I guess for me, that is why every other system is failing. If we go back to our indigenous systems, which were informed by our own spirituality, education, laws I think we can catch up with the global system. And I think we will be the best in the world.
For the future of Africa to ensure historical Injustice, reparation in historic injustice in the future what is our hope.
I think governments in this case, must consider the spiritual approach. It has to look into the spiritual approach; have proper, rich spiritual people who will be assisting and guiding on that part. Part of the plan is to assist people when I am saying that, we have to involve spirituality because if you speak to the mind of the person, but not the spirit even traumas would not be finished. People must be healed. Even spiritual Africans, must be human spiritual. So, my belief is that, if Africa can make it more spiritual approach, which is more permanent, I think, we are going to see a lot of change in everything else that we are doing. Why have we failed in most things that we have been doing up to now? There is an element missing; that is the spiritual approach. The true authentic spiritual approach that has been missing in everything we do. We need to incorporate that and we are going to start seeing changes because that is how our ancestors used to do. When Africa was great, and it was great, it was prosperous.
If there’s anything important that you would like to just say that message.
My view is the last point is Let us open to our biggest weapons. And our biggest weapon, is not all these systems that people brought to us. Our biggest weapon is our spirituality. Sometimes as humans, you look for solutions outside; but the solution is near you. Every nation we are created with uniqueness and special things. We as Africans our greatest asset is our spirituality. So as Africans, let us go back to our spiritual groups and I think we will find each other. We will stop being tribal. We will stop being xenophobic. We will stop hating each other as Africans. We love each other, we would like to the highest level, and I think through that Unity we will be able to overcome all challenges that are being faced with today.
Thank you very much for allowing us your time!
Thank you
BY ZEKARIAS WOLDEMARIAM
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 26 APRIL 2025
